Change of Heart
by Secret Keeper Thirteen
Summary: When Ichigo is left after a hard breakup, he looks for ways to change his life and ends up changing himself.


Hi guys! So, I have a great big idea in my head for this fic and it will hopefully be great! I have high hopes for it. I hope you like it! Feedback would be wonderful, constructive criticism always helpful.

Pairings: IchixHime, UlquixHime, eventual GrimmxIchi and probably others depending on where the characters take this.

Rating: T - eventual smut and sexual situations

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of the characters herein mentioned. These people and situations are not based on real life events and any and all similarities are entirely coincidental.

**Change of Heart**

Chapter 1

Ichigo glanced up from his cell phone just in time to swerve his car away from crossing to the opposite lane. "Sorry, sorry," he waved his hand apologetically to the annoyed driver he had almost hit while coming around the curve of the road.

The text that had captured Ichigo's attention was one from his girlfriend, asking where he was. He sighed; lately Orihime was acting strange and he couldn't figure out why. Despite her behavior she was as clingy as ever and tried to keep tabs on Ichigo's whereabouts and activities nearly every day.

Which was precisely the reason he was now driving up the ramp onto the highway. Getting away from his apartment with Orihime was the number one goal of this afternoon.

Ichigo looked around and saw that he was virtually alone on the road, so he flipped open his cell phone and dialed.

"_Ichigo. It's been awhile," _The voice came through the phone and immediately raised Ichigo's mood.

"Uryu, how is everything? Is anyone else around?"

"_Well as a matter of fact I'm out right now. Chad and I have been assigned the same dorm room this year so I put together a plan for the room's setup which will optimize –"_

"Yeah, yeah, cool," Ichigo cut him off, knowing it would get his friend mad. "So you guys are in town? I'm coming to you, I'll be there in about a half hour, okay?"

"_Fine, Ichigo. However, you'd be better served to go to your cousin's house since that's where we're going to be by that time. See you then. Goodbye." _

Ichigo grinned and shook his head as Uryu hung up promptly.

Ichigo's spot at the small table was one of four, the others occupied by Uryu, Chad, and his currently dwarfed cousin Neliel (whose rib-crushing embrace he'd had the luck to be a recipient of, upon entrance to the house).

"So you actually decided to come to our college?" Uryu asked as he dealt the cards for a game of _Uno._

"Yeah, I can't really see how putting it off for another year would help me. I've saved up as much as I wanted to this year anyways. They've been helping me out a lot down at the garage over the past couple of months. I want to show the shop owners that their generosity won't go to waste." Ichigo scratched his nose and added, "also, things need to change."

"What do you mean by that, Ichi?" Neliel asked, cocking her head to one side.

"Nothin', Nel. I just want to get moving I guess." Ichigo leaned back in his chair.

The four of them made small talk and told a few old jokes while they played. When the clock hit 5, Ichigo stood up. "Well, guys, I gotta get goin'. Orihime's gonna be home soon and I have to be there to make sure she doesn't burn the house down trying to make dinner," he joked.

Nel giggled. "We all know how that usually turns out."

Uryu and Chad said goodbye and Nel was thwarted from giving Ichigo another crushing hug, and Ichigo went out the door. As he was walking to his car, another one drove up and almost hit his back bumper as it parked.

"Hey!" Ichigo shouted at the three men who clambered out of the car. "What the hell?"

"What do you want? We didn't even hit it!" screeched the tallest of the three, a thin, mean-looking guy.

Ichigo didn't know what to say, so as he opened his front door he angrily muttered, "Well you better not hit it again, dumbass, or I'll tell Neliel never to let you guys anywhere around here again."

The man laughed at him, but the blond-haired one of his shorter friends clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Eh, come on, Nnoi. This guy ain't worth it." This man looked at the last friend, who had been ignoring the exchange up till now. Finally he joined in the banter, turning slowly to face Ichigo and look him squarely in the face. Ichigo felt affronted.

"This man is trash," was all he said, and the other two friends laughed together at his words before they joined him walking towards Neliel's house.

Ichigo shook his head and decided he'd have a few words with Neliel later about what kinds of friends she was making. He turned on his car and heard the men talking as they knocked on the door.

'Nnoi', as the blond had called him, was asking the 'trash' guy a question. "God, what a waste of time. So Ulquiorra! You see Hime today?"

All of a sudden Ichigo couldn't pull away from the curb. Hime? Did he mean that as a nickname for someone? Like Orihime? Could it be… No way. Absolutely not, Orihime was totally devoted to him.

Trying to settle his thoughts Ichigo pulled his mind away from the already-gone troublemakers and got back onto the highway to go home. He pulled out his cellphone and called his apartment. Ring, ring, ring… he got the messaging machine, and left a short message saying that he was on his way home and to call him when she got in. All of this was normal, since Orihime sometimes got home late.

Once Ichigo arrived back at his apartment, he unlocked the door and stepped inside, switching on the light. Though it had been an hour's drive, Orihime still hadn't gotten back home. That's okay, he thought. I'll just call her cell.

He opened up his cellphone another time but as he did, another light caught his eye. The apartment's telephone answering machine was on the end table right near where he was sitting on the couch. However, the New Message light was not blinking.

Ichigo wondered why she would've gone back out after already being home, and not calling him back. But he busied himself with cleaning up the kitchen until Orihime got home. After that was clean, he moved to their small living room. Finally he went into the bathroom and wiped down the sink, knobs, and got out the heavy-duty chemicals to clean the shower.

Ichigo was kneeling inside the suds-laden shower stall, wearing elbow-length soap-covered rubber gloves, when he heard the front door open at long last. He almost got up to go and greet her, but realized it was probably a better idea to let her come to him.

After a few minutes Orihime came around the corner of the hallway, saying cheerfully, "Ichigo! The apartment looks amazing!" She let out a small laugh at the sight of him. "And aren't you just a spectacle."

Ichigo smiled a bit but couldn't help asking "Where have you been? I've been worried, you know."

His girlfriend's smile slipped a little and she didn't quite meet his eyes as she explained that she'd had to work late at the office today. Orihime began to apologize for not making dinner for them but Ichigo politely cut her off, saying with a smile "We'll just order in."

Orihime instantly was back to normal and she went back to her normal bubbly self as she went into the kitchen and ordered their usual set of items from their favorite Chinese restaurant. While that was delivered, Ichigo finished up his work in the bathroom and came to pay the deliveryman.

The two of them sat down to eat and made small talk for a few minutes. Then Ichigo asked, "So you got my message today?"

Orihime froze. Ichigo could practically see her scrambling for an answer to his question and it gave him a bad feeling in his stomach. "It's okay," he said.

"No, I just don't know what message you're talking about!" she quickly replied. "I didn't get a message from you."

"You're a bad liar, love," Ichigo let half his face drift into a sly grin as he teased his girlfriend.

Orihime looked down and shoved a forkful of lo mein into her mouth, then pointed to her bulging cheeks as if to say, I cannot talk while chewing.

Ichigo laughed out loud and continued eating. He wondered why he had thought that she was acting strange in the first place, but then remembered sadly when he saw her picking at the rest of her food.

"Orihime, is something wrong?" he asked seriously, placing a hand over one of hers.

"No, no, no, everything's fine!" Orihime laughed off his concern. Ichigo's worry deepened and that feeling he had from before got a bit worse. The two of them fell silent. Then he remembered the men from before and one particular thing they'd said made it impossible for him to resist asking Orihime another question.

"Orihime, do you know anyone named Ulquiorra?" The girl's eyes snapped up to meet his but when she saw his open expression she instantly shook her head no.

"Ha ha, what a strange name!" she giggled. Was that nervousness Ichigo heard?

"Okay, just wondering," Ichigo said. "Just heard something today I wondered about."

There was no doubt now that something was up. That sick feeling in his stomach was now seriously affecting his ability to continue eating.

Ichigo stood up from the table and cleared their plates. He picked up their leavings from the kitchen and asked Orihime to come to their room with him, with a smile.

Hoping with all his heart that nothing was amiss and that the weird vibes he'd been getting were of his own imagination, Ichigo shut their door and laid down with Orihime on their bed. He took their cell phones and put them on vibrate, placing them on the table next to his side of the bed, before turning back to her smiling face and placing his lips on hers.

"I love you," he whispered to her before he began kissing her in earnest.

An hour later Ichigo lay awake with his bare chest and upward uncovered. Orihime slept lightly beside him, having just dropped off into real slumber. She had seemed tired tonight, almost uninterested. It hadn't been what Ichigo had hoped and he wasn't satisfied with the day's events at all.

Suddenly the screen on Orihime's phone lit up and it vibrated. Ichigo figured it was probably Orihime's best friend Tatsuki, and ignored it. He ignored it until the fifth message came through and he decided enough was enough. Rolling onto his side he reached over and picked up the cell phone, squinting at the bright light. Normally the two of them respected each other's privacy but this was ridiculous. It was the middle of the night.

Intending to tell Tatsuki to go away, Ichigo thumbed over to open up the message box but instead found a set of messages from someone named "Cifer" in the address book. Confused, Ichigo read the name out loud, trying to figure out if he knew that name from somewhere.

"Hmm?" Orihime blearily turned her head up towards her boyfriend and spoke in a sleep-thick voice. "Ulqui?"

"What?" Ichigo looked down at her, even more confused. He opened the first message.

_Hello, Hime. _

Huh? Who's calling his girl 'Hime'? She hates that name, Ichigo thought. He went to the second message as Orihime slowly her rubbed eyes, realizing that something was going on.

_I trust you are enjoying your evening. That is good. _

Orihime looked at Ichigo's moody face and brought her hand to her mouth quickly, presumably remembering what she'd just revealed.

_I am looking forward to next time, Hime. However, I need you to give me details. We cannot meet next time where we did today. _

_Woman, I need a response from you. _

_Fine, I assume you've been coerced into bed with that man. Enjoy your rest. Please contact me as soon as possible in the morning. Good night._

Ichigo sat and stared at the phone. He flipped back and forth through the messages. After a few moments he looked at his girlfriend. Orihime had gotten out of the bed and put her pajamas back on, appearing scared.

"What is this?" Ichigo angrily stood up and brandished the cell phone in the air above the bed between them. "Who is this person? 'Ulqui'? Why is he texting you in the middle of the night?"

Orihime looked down at their bed and said in a small voice "I didn't want to upset you, Ichigo."

"Well you see where that got us, huh." Ichigo tossed the phone onto the bed, its secrets uncovered, and proceeded to pull on a pair of shorts while he thought silently.

"Ichigo…"

"What is it, Orihime? I just want to sleep." Ichigo was exasperated and felt sick to his stomach. Ulqui is definitely Ulquiorra, he thought. That man…

"What is he to you?" Ichigo whipped around and shouted. "What's going on, really? Why haven't you been yourself lately?"

"Because I can't lie to you, Ichigo!" Orihime was almost crying, already. "I didn't want to hurt you. I can't tell you about us because then I'd lose you."

Ichigo ran his hands through his spikes of orange hair. Figuring the nauseousness couldn't possibly get worse he muttered, "Just tell me, Orihime."

Her eyes filled up but she spoke. "Ichi, Ulquiorra and I, we have something really special. I… I met him through Nel-" Ichigo clenched his fists- "-and it's… it's really interesting being around him. I do love you, Kurosaki-kun! I just… I don't know what to do, but when he and I have days like today where we are so close…" Orihime trailed off.

Ichigo couldn't say a word for a moment or two. It felt like the ceiling was falling on him and trapping him inside a cement block. "So, let me get this straight. You are cheating on me. With some kind of asshole named Ulquiorra. Who happened to call me trash today. And whom you met with today. Here, instead of going to work. You got my message, erased it, then left the house to make it look like you were working late. And then you come home and sleep with me and make me feel like everything's gonna be fine while really you're doing all of this?" Ichigo could barely form the thought that he should stop scaring the girl he loved. "You know what? I'm done. Now that I know what you've been acting so weird lately I'm not gonna put up with this. If you expect me to be okay with all of this you are wrong!"

Ichigo jumped up. He couldn't stand to sit there, on that bed, any longer. Striding across the room, he walked into the hallway. Orihime tried to follow him, her hand outstretched, but he jumped away from her. He ran to the doorway and shouted "I'm out of here!" before snatching up his sneakers and slamming the door behind him.

Ichigo ran down the stairs of their apartment building. He blindly pushed out onto the street, slipping his feet into his shoes and slamming the door behind him. All he had on him was the pair of sneakers and shorts with some change in the pockets but right now he didn't give a damn for anything but whatever the hell had happened to Orihime. He decided right then: he was done.


End file.
